various and sundry

Like most of the weeks we chronicle, this week was distinctive mostly for being fairly undistinguished (with one or two minor exceptions, to be noted below). On Monday Andrew and I spent some time with Jeni and her kids (an expedition to Target, followed by lunch). On Tuesday, my friend Karin dropped her son Ezra off for a play date of sorts with Andrew while she went to the dentist (I say "of sorts" because it was a last minute arrangement, and Andrew was still napping when Ezra arrived). Tuesday was a red-letter day for me: I sent electronic copies of my full dissertation to my committee. That means, basically, that I don't have to do any more dissertation writing until after my defense (exactly one month from today). I'm pretty excited to actually be able to see the end of my degree!


(This is a picture of Andrew's ideal place setting--the one he put together for himself for breakfast the other day. We're not sure what all the spoons are for.)

Wednesday, besides being the midpoint of the week, was also easily the lowest point of the week. I woke up in the middle of the night with horrible stomach pains, followed by other inevitable symptoms of the flu (a diagnosis confirmed by a doctor later that day). This meant that I was too miserable to do much that day--my poor mom had to be Andrew's de facto mom, since I wasn't up to much. Luckily, it was only a 24 hour bug, and even more luckily, no one else caught it (at least, not as of this writing). As a result of all this, however, Thursday and Friday were pretty quiet, as I was still recuperating and I didn't want to take Andrew anywhere that he could infect other kids (especially since we weren't sure if he was going to get sick or not).

We entertained ourselves Friday morning by making a couple batches of scone recipes (in pursuit of the task Bubby set for us, to find some good recipes for scones). We made two more batches on Saturday. I have to say, Andrew loves "helping" his mom, but I could generally do things much faster without his "help"! Saturday we had a big family celebration--since Dan and I are going to Southern Utah for Thanksgiving, this was in lieu of our family Thanksgiving celebration. Jeni orchestrated our brunch--we had biscuits and gravy, crepes, sausage, and hashbrowns. The scones weren't initially part of the menu, but I thought it was a good opportunity to find lots of taste testers for our scones. Unfortunately, the several dozen scones we ended up with were way too much, on top of all the other food (which was quite good, if a little short on fruits or vegetables. I don't count the peach pie filling that went with the crepes). So if anyone in our neighborhood would like to try a scone . . . The winner seemed to be the lemon blueberry scone, but as this was by far the most frustrating recipe (my original attempt ended in the garbage) and the main attraction seemed to be the lemon glaze, Dan and I decided that next time we'll opt for a simpler recipe and just put the glaze on top of it.


(Andrew holding Brielle, his new favorite baby. He's finally getting over his habit of saying her name several dozen times a day, but when I asked him what the name of one of his baby dolls was the other day, he said, "Brielle.")




(You'll notice that Andrew is looking at Brielle, not the camera. He wasn't very happy that Jared had taken Brielle away--he thought it was still his turn to hold her!)

After lunch, we put Andrew down for his nap and his Tolley cousins went home for theirs (although I understand not altogether successfully). Mitcee was resting upstairs, so while she and Andrew slept, Jared and Dan went over to the Tolleys to play games on their Wii (especially since Jared and Mitcee brought their controllers with them, so they could play four players at a time). After Andrew woke up, Mitcee and I joined them. This was my first time on a Wii, but I have to admit I enjoyed it--we played Mario and Sonic Olympics (or something like that), which actually required you to do some of the motions for the various sporting events. I was horrible, Dan marginally better, but all of us had fun. (I'm a little embarrassed to confess that my arms are a little sore today--I think from the rowing competition!)


(Not to be outdone, Emi also insisted on holding Brielle).



For a week that had some inauspicious moments, the week ended well. Dan and I both taught lessons today (I had the Relief Society lesson, and Dan was substituting in Elder's Quorum), which was kind of fun because it meant we got to discuss the lesson during the week, which otherwise almost never happens. Andrew continues to entertain us--lately, he's started singing with us while we sing him songs before bed. And although he hasn't got a clue what a tune is, nor does he know all the words, he's pretty persistent. (He's almost got all the letters done in "ABC" though he doesn't always get them in the right order). And it's pretty entertaining to hear him burst out at random moments with phrases from songs: "Temple, house of God." "Chapel doors." "Mommies shush" (from the "wheels on the bus"), etc.

We hope that, heading into the holiday season, you and all of yours are well and happy.